The Royal Palace in Stockholm looks like a giant shoebox. Now don’t give me that look, it was our tour guide who said that.

That’s him. Now give him the look.

Royal Guard (who looks a lot like my cousin Ritchie)

The southern façade of the Royal Palace faces Slottsbacken. Here you can also see the Obelisk and Stockholm Cathedral

The 660-room Stockholm Palace is one of the largest royal palaces in the world still in use for its original purpose. The offices of King Carl XVI Gustaf and other members of the Swedish Royal Family, as well as the offices of the Royal Court of Sweden are all located here. Watch your head, Flor!

Felisse and Frances appreciating the baroque architecture

View of the Parliament Building from the terrace in the western wing of the palace

Our next stop is Skansen, the world’s first ever open air museum founded in 1891 by Artur Hazelius

It is visited by 1.4 million people yearly. I see a lot of children and babies, too.

The open air museum is 75 acres big. For those who don’t know acres, think 300,000 square meters. We are given less than 2 hours to tour the place.

Skansen showcases the way of life in the different parts of Sweden before the industrial era. Except for 3 buildings, all 150-something houses on display are originals. Hazelius bought each of them during his travels to different parts of the country and had them shipped piece by piece to the museum, where they were rebuilt to provide a unique picture of traditional Sweden.

Wow.

Ernest, Frances, a Swedish worker, Florence, Felisse, Me, Erwin

Mekanisk Verkstad

Konsum, a Swedish Co-op shop

Officina Typographica, or The Printer’s, from 1725

Forgot what this is. Sorry.

Bakery in the 1870’s

Post Office furnished in the style of the 1910s

Inside a rich man’s home

Windmill

The Bollnäs House is a special building used for large gatherings on special occasions

The Hällestad belfry, built in 1732 and stands more than 40 meters high, is one of Sweden's highest bell towers

These red Dala horses are Swedish traditional wooden crafts. They are icons of Sweden. You see them everywhere, most especially in souvenir shops!

Skansen is also home to a wide range of Scandinavian animals and rare breeds of farm animals. In this photo you see Leicester sheep (?) and African pygmé goats.

Brown bear

Female moose

European bison

Ooops. That’s my cousin Frances, not an animal.

Fresh flowers

Colorful crafts

Jams and preserves

Breads and pastries

Cotton candy

The Sami Camp is where the mountain Sami used to live during autumn and spring in the beginning of the 20th century when they still followed a nomadic existence, moving about with their reindeer.

The Sami’s reindeer

The Sami?

The Älvros Farmstead represents the north Swedish farm in the early years of the 19th century

One of the rooms in a farm house

Me and the farmer’s wife

I match the Barnacle goose (it keeps running away from me)

Glass-blowing factory

Gubbhyllan was built in 1816 as a summer residence until 1852 when it was bought by a pastry chef and converted into a Swiss café.

We go back to Stortorget in Gamla Stan. I really, really love this place.

Me trying to blend in with the locals

Lunch is at Stortorgskallaren (again!)

Crisp bread Salad

Fried herring White choco truffle with ginger and cinnamon

At last, we get to spend a little time with Auntie Babie and Uncle Frank

On our way to the bus we witness the changing of the Royal Guards. First comes the brown horses.

Then the white horses. Then the brown horses again. There are about 30,000 Royal Guards and the whole event takes 40 minutes.

Sweden’s oldest amusement park, Grona Lund, is more than 200 years old

We still got a little time before we have to be at the port so we walk around Sergels torg, the most central public square in Stockholm

Shopping time!

Didn’t know McDonald’s can look so classy

A sculpture of Sergel, the famous Swedish sculptor, sculpting a woman (Tongue twister time!!!)

Wildness

Fresh produce

Felisse loves Swedish boys Swedish boys love Felisse… ‘s shirt

H&M Home

When are we gonna have this in Asia?

While the wives and daughters shop, the daddies sit and wait

I want some ice cream but the line is too long

We arrive at the port just in time to board the New York-themed cruise ship